[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 47 (Thursday, March 10, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-5532]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: March 10, 1994]
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Part IX
Department of Education
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34 CFR Part 200 et al.
Chapter 1 Programs in Local Educational Agencies and Migrant Education;
Proposed Rules
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Parts 200 and 201
RIN 1810-AA70
Chapter 1 Program in Local Educational Agencies and Chapter 1--
Migrant Education Program
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Secretary of Education (Secretary) proposes to issue
regulations amending the regulations governing Part A and Part D,
Subpart 1 of Chapter 1 of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965. Part A of chapter 1 provides financial
assistance through State educational agencies (SEAs) to local
educational agencies (LEAs) to meet the special educational needs of
educationally deprived children in school attendance areas with high
concentrations of children from low-income families and children in
local institutions for neglected or delinquent children. Part D of
chapter 1 authorizes a Migrant Education Program (MEP) that provides
financial assistance to SEAs to establish and improve programs to meet
the special educational needs of migratory children of migratory
agricultural workers or fishermen.
These amendments are needed to afford flexibility to States that
have developed assessment systems that support their systemic education
reform efforts but that are inconsistent with the national evaluation
standards in Subpart H of 34 CFR Part 200 and Subpart E of 34 CFR Part
201. The proposed regulations would enable States to request an
exception to those national evaluation standards to use their own
assessment systems to evaluate the effectiveness of their Chapter 1 and
MEP programs.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 25, 1994.
ADDRESSES: All comments concerning the proposed Part 200 regulations
should be addressed to Mary Jean LeTendre, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Portals Building, Room 4400,
Washington, DC 20202-6132.
All comments concerning the proposed Part 201 regulations should be
addressed to Francis Corrigan, U.S. Department of Education, 400
Maryland Avenue SW., Portals Building, Room 4104, Washington, DC 20202-
6135.
A copy of any comments that concern information collection
requirements should also be sent to the Office of Management and Budget
at the address listed in the Paperwork Reduction Act section of this
preamble.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For Part 200, Wendy Jo New, U.S.
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., Portals Building,
room 4400, Washington, DC 20202-6132. Telephone: (202) 260-0982. For
Part 201, James English, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue SW., Portals Building, room 4104, Washington, DC 20202-6135.
Telephone: (202) 260-1394. Individuals who use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern
time, Monday through Friday.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under section 1435 of chapter 1, the
Secretary is required, in consultation with SEAs and LEAs, to develop
national standards for evaluation of chapter 1 programs. After
enactment of this requirement in 1988, the Secretary held five regional
meetings to receive input on the content of these standards and
submitted draft standards for consideration in the negotiated
rulemaking process required under section 1431 of the statute. After
considering additional public comments on proposed regulations, the
Secretary issued the final national standards that are contained in
Subpart H (Secs. 200.80-200.89) of Part 200 of the Chapter 1
regulations.
Under these national standards, LEAs assess, every 12 months, the
achievement of each chapter 1 participant in grades 2 through 12 in
reading, mathematics, and language arts, as appropriate, compared to an
estimate of what his or her achievement would have been in the absence
of chapter 1 services. The LEA is required to use a nationally normed
test or a test equated to a nationally normed test and report to the
SEA the results of student achievement using the common reporting scale
established by the Secretary--i.e., normal curve equivalents. The SEA,
in turn, is required to aggregate LEA student achievement data to
provide a statewide average of student achievement gains resulting from
participation in Chapter 1 programs. The Secretary aggregates data from
each State in order to submit to Congress biennially a national report
on the effectiveness of chapter 1.
Because section 1435 also applies to the MEP, regulations for that
program in subpart E of part 201 contain a similar requirement to
measure and report student achievement in accordance with national
standards using, if possible, appropriate forms and levels of national-
or State-normed achievement tests.
Since these regulations took effect, a number of States have
developed new assessment systems, linked to their statewide reform
efforts, to improve the quality of education. Consistent with research
and practice that have identified the limitations of traditional
assessments, these new systems are tied to complex skills and
challenging subject matter and use multiple measures of achievement.
They do not routinely use nationally normed tests and typically only
assess children in certain grades. As a result, the new assessments are
not consistent with the national evaluation standards in parts 200 and
201. Therefore, SEAs and LEAs in these States must operate multiple,
overlapping assessment systems.
Several States have requested that the Secretary either waive the
current national evaluation standards or modify the regulations to take
into account new State assessment activities. The Secretary does not
currently have the authority to waive the national standards.
Nevertheless, the Secretary does not want chapter 1 or MEP assessment
requirements to be a barrier to systemic State reforms that upgrade the
quality of elementary and secondary education. The Secretary recognizes
that new State assessment systems now being implemented are likely to
provide more meaningful data than the current Chapter 1 testing
requirements on the success of chapter 1 and MEP programs because those
assessments are tied to high State standards for what children should
know and be able to do and are integral to systemic State reforms to
improve education quality.
To address these concerns, the Secretary proposes to add exceptions
to the requirements in Subpart H of Part 200 and in Subpart E of Part
201. These exceptions would enable States that are implementing new
assessment systems that support education reform to use those
assessments to measure the effectiveness of Chapter 1 and MEP programs
in place of the current Chapter 1 testing requirements. The proposed
regulations would also permit States to request exceptions for
particular LEAs that, absent State systems, have new local assessment
systems in place to support their education reform efforts.
In granting an exception, the Secretary would not be waiving any
statutory requirements. SEAs and LEAs would continue to evaluate the
effectiveness of their Chapter 1 programs under section 1019, perform
the annual review required under section 1021(a), measure sustained
program gains under sections 1019(a)(3) and 1021(a)(2), identify
schools and students in need of program improvement under section
1021(b) and (f), and meet schoolwide project accountability
requirements under section 1015(e), using the State assessment and any
other sources of information deemed appropriate. Similarly, under the
MEP, SEAs must ensure that they and their operating agencies adhere to
the requirements of sections 1011(b), 1019(b) and 1202(a)(6) to use
desired outcomes for evaluating performance, to collect and report
demographic and performance data, and to examine sustained gains for
formerly migratory children.
An exception would give SEAs and LEAs greater flexibility to carry
out these provisions. For example, LEAs would no longer be required to
use nationally normed tests to measure ``aggregate performance'' for
program improvement purposes. Similarly, evaluation data would not need
to be able to be aggregated beyond the LEA level.
The Secretary would review each request for an exception to ensure
that it would not impair an SEA's or LEAs' ability to account for
results under chapter 1 or the MEP.
The Secretary wishes to emphasize that no State is required to make
any changes in its chapter 1 or MEP testing programs as a result of
these proposed regulations. Rather, the proposed exceptions are
intended to reduce testing burden, provide flexibility for assessment
and school reforms that will help the State improve the quality of
education, and enable States to align Chapter 1 and MEP assessments
with their own assessment systems.
Executive Order 12866
These proposed regulations have been reviewed in accordance with
Executive Order 12866. Under the terms of the order, the Secretary has
assessed the potential costs and benefits of this regulatory action.
The potential benefits associated with the proposed regulations are
clear. Rather than continuing to operate multiple assessment systems
for Federal and State purposes, States could use their State systems to
evaluate their chapter 1 and MEP programs. Moreover, the potential
costs associated with the proposed regulations are negligible. Because
the proposed regulations would permit States to use their own
assessment systems, States would incur few, if any, additional costs.
To the contrary, the proposed regulations would result in reduced costs
for States that would no longer need to operate multiple assessment
systems.
Any burdens specifically associated with information collection
requirements are identified and explained elsewhere in this preamble
under the heading Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980. The Secretary has
also determined that this regulatory action does not unduly interfere
with State, local, and tribal governments in the exercise of their
governmental functions. The proposed regulations would actually
increase States' flexibility in assessing their chapter 1 and MEP
programs.
To assist the Department in complying with the specific
requirements of Executive Order 12866, the Secretary invites comment on
whether there may be further opportunities to reduce any potential
costs or increase potential benefits resulting from these proposed
regulations without impeding the effective and efficient administration
of the chapter 1 and MEP programs.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Secretary certifies that these proposed regulations would not
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The small entities that would be affected by these proposed
regulations are small LEAs receiving Federal funds under the Chapter 1
and MEP programs. However, the regulations would not have a significant
economic impact on the small LEAs affected because the regulations
would not impose excessive regulatory burdens or require unnecessary
Federal supervision. The regulations would impose minimal requirements
to ensure the proper expenditure of program funds.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980
Sections 200.90 and 201.57 contain information collection
requirements. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, the
Department of Education will submit a copy of these sections to the
Office of Management and Budget for its review. (44 U.S.C. 3504(h))
These proposed regulations would affect SEAs and LEAs that have
developed assessment systems that support their educational reform
efforts but that are inconsistent with the national evaluation
standards in subpart H of part 200 or subpart E of part 201. The
Department needs the information to grant exceptions to the national
evaluation standards.
A one-time public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this
collection of information is estimated to average two hours per
response for a maximum of 52 respondents, including the time for
reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information.
Organizations and individuals desiring to submit comments on the
information collection requirements should direct them to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, room 3002, New Executive
Office Building, Washington, DC 20503; Attention: Dan Chenok.
Invitation to Comment
Interested persons are invited to submit comments and
recommendations regarding these proposed regulations.
All comments submitted in response to these proposed regulations
will be available for public inspection, during and after the comment
period, in rooms 4400 and 4100, respectively, Portals Building, 1250
Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC., between the hours of 8:30 a.m.
and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday of each week except Federal holidays.
List of Subjects
34 CFR Part 200
Administrative practice and procedure, Education of disadvantaged,
Elementary and secondary education, Grant programs--education, Juvenile
delinquency, Neglected, Private schools, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, State-administered programs.
34 CFR Part 201
Children, Coordination, Education, Eligibility, Evaluation, Grant
programs--education, Identification and recruitment, Local educational
agencies, Migrant student record transfer system, Migratory children,
Migratory workers, Needs assessment, Priorities, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Special educational needs, State
educational agencies, Subgrants.
Dated: February 22, 1994.
Richard W. Riley,
Secretary of Education.
(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers: 84.010, Chapter 1
Program in Local Educational Agencies; 84.011, Migrant Education
Basic State Formula Grant Program; 84.012, Chapter 1 Programs--State
Administration)
The Secretary proposes to amend parts 200 and 201 of Title 34 of
the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:
PART 200--CHAPTER 1 PROGRAM IN LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES
1. The authority citation for Part 200 is revised to read as
follows:
Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2701-2731, 2821-2838, 2851-2854, 2881-2901,
unless otherwise noted.
2. A heading entitled ``Exception'' and a new Sec. 200.90 are added
to subpart H to read as follows:
Exception
Sec. 200.90 May an SEA request an exception to the requirements in
this subpart?
(a) An SEA may request, in writing, an exception to the
requirements in this subpart if the SEA desires to use a State
assessment system developed to support its education reform efforts for
the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of its Chapter 1 programs.
(b) The Secretary may grant an SEA's request if the State
assessment system provides information, that can be aggregated for each
LEA as a whole, about the yearly performance of each Chapter 1 school.
This information must be from at least one grade level and must be
based on student achievement in basic and more advanced skills and
challenging subject matter.
(c) An SEA may request an exception that covers all or some of its
LEAs.
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2729(a), 2835)
PART 201--CHAPTER 1--MIGRANT EDUCATION PROGRAM
3. The authority citation for Part 201 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2781-2782, unless otherwise noted.
4. A new Sec. 201.57 is added to subpart E to read as follows:
Sec. 201.57 Exception to evaluation requirements.
(a) An SEA may request, in writing, an exception to the
requirements in Secs. 201.51(a)(1)(ii), 201.52(b)(1), 201.53, and
201.55 if the SEA desires to use a State assessment system, developed
to support its education reform efforts, for the purpose of evaluating
the effectiveness of its Chapter 1 Migrant Education Program.
(b) The Secretary may grant an SEA's request if the State
assessment system provides a statewide estimate of the yearly
performance of migrant children in the State. This information must be
from at least one grade level and must be based on student achievement
in basic and more advanced skills and challenging subject matter.
(c) An SEA may request an exception that covers all or some of its
operating agencies.
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 2722, 2729, 2782, 2835)
[FR Doc. 94-5532 Filed 3-9-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
